Photo: LA Care / Courtesy
As the first anniversary of the covid vaccine approaches – 19, data reports that Los Angeles County has 81% of the population vaccinated. This has created concern and interest on the part of the state and health entities to motivate more people to get vaccinated.
The Local Initiative of the Los Angeles County Health Authority or LA Care, has launched a covid Vaccination Incentive Program – 19 to encourage their unvaccinated Medi-Cal and Cal MediConnect (CMC) members to receive the covid vaccine – 19.
Eligible members receiving their first or second covid vaccination – 20 will receive a gift card of $ 50 per person while supplies last. This applies to eligible members aged 12 years or older who received their first or second injection from Monday, November 1, 2021.
LA Care has nearly 2 million members over 12 years, of which only 61% – approximately 1.1 million – have been vaccinated. Estimated 30% of county residents are Medi-Cal recipients.
“Our members are vaccinated in almost 20 percentage points less than the general community here in Los Angeles, a reality seen by Medi-Cal recipients across the state, ”said Dr. Richard Seidman, LA Care’s chief medical officer. “We are offering the program because we need our members to be vaccinated regardless of doubts or concerns.”
Seidman explained that this pandemic has mainly affected low-income communities of color more than any other, and the reality is that these same communities are also the ones being vaccinated at the lowest rates.
He added that unvaccinated people are five times more likely to be infected and ten times more likely to be hospitalized or die.
“So we focus on older people, homebound people of color, and children who are most at risk,” said Seidman.
Recently the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an emergency vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 years, but at LA Care, the incentive program is for those over 12 years.
The program The Immunization Incentive Program is the latest in a series of steps LA Care has taken to increase the number of members vaccinated. Earlier this year, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) conducted a study showing that a cash payment of $ 50 would make 31% of people more likely to receive an injection.
Concerns of the unvaccinated
Seidman noted that there are many reasons why people don’t want to get immunized. Fear of the unknown, fear of side effects even though most may be mild such as headache, fever, chills, feeling sick or pain in the vaccinated arm.
“People are concerned that they may feel so bad that they need to be absent from work, ”said the doctor. “Many people don’t like being told what to do.”
The cards that will be delivered are for the arrival of people who are going to be vaccinated and they are limited so LA Care encourages members to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Eligible members who get vaccinated will receive a postcard with instructions on how to select a gift card in approximately four weeks. It may take up to 12 weeks to receive the selected gift card.
LA Care has more than 1, 000 locations throughout the county where people can get vaccinated, including doctor’s offices, federally qualified health centers, hospitals, pharmacies, and pop-up events or mobile vaccination clinics. There are about 500 vaccination clinics planned in schools as well.
“Our multifaceted effort has included nearly $ 2 million in grants to community clinics to increase vaccines in communities of color, which were disproportionately affected by the pandemic, ”Seidman explained.
He added that people are understandably concerned, but hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines have been administered that have been licensed or recommended by both the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because they have been shown to be safe, effective, and an important tool to control the pandemic.
Some venues now accept walk-ins, including evenings and weekends.
For more information about the Incentives d e Covid Vaccination – 19 from LA Care, visit lacare.org/vaccine or call the Center Customer Solutions Customer Motivator at 888 – 689 – 3420.